Georgetown University Goes Solar with SolarCity

Washington, District of Columbia, United States | April 11, 2013

Georgetown University is going solar with SolarCity (Nasdaq: SCTY) on a project that is expected to cut the school’s energy bills by tens of thousands of dollars and reduce more than 600,000 pounds of carbon pollution over its lifetime. The student-spearheaded initiative, Solar Street, installed 75 solar panels across rooftops of six university-owned historic townhouses on the scenic campus in the nation’s capital. The project was unveiled today in an on-campus ribbon cutting ceremony.

“Georgetown is pleased to be leading the first university solar electricity project of its scale on a historic residential block in Washington, DC,” said Robin Morey, vice president for planning and facilities management at the university. “This project serves as a strong symbol of Georgetown’s commitment to sustainable buildings, and it demonstrates Georgetown’s local leadership as a partner in the Mayor’s College and University Sustainability Pledge by helping to advance the District’s goal to increase solar energy capacity.”

SolarCity expects the project to offset an average of approximately 40 percent of the electricity used in each townhouse, and provide up to $43,000 in savings to the student body government over the 20-year life of the power purchase agreement (PPA). These savings represent the difference between the cost of the solar power and the higher cost that the University would otherwise pay to their electricity provider for electricity in those residences.

“We’re excited to be helping a great university like Georgetown go solar and save money,” said SolarCity’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Vice President Leon Keshishian. “As a Georgetown alum, I’m proud to be helping the school make smart energy decisions.”

The project represents Georgetown’s first university-student partnership on a solar energy project. Students pay for the solar power produced by the arrays, while the University has provided the funding to bring the homes up to solar readiness by installing new, higher-amperage electrical panels. Additionally, the University has contributed in-kind professional staff time for activities such as a preliminary feasibility analysis, soliciting and reviewing the vendor bids, and providing legal, financial, and architectural review.

The portion of the townhouse residents’ total housing costs that are allotted toward utilities in a given year will not change from prior years, because students’ electricity usage levels are not expected to change. The main change is a new housing billing structure that was implemented this fall under which townhouse students pay a flat fee for housing each semester, similar to students in Georgetown’s other on-campus housing.

SolarCity® (NASDAQ: SCTY) provides clean energy. The company has disrupted the century-old energy industry by providing renewable electricity directly to homeowners, businesses and government organizations for less than they spend on utility bills. SolarCity gives customers control of their energy costs to protect them from rising rates. The company offers solar power, energy efficiency and electric vehicle services, and makes clean energy easy by taking care of everything from design and permitting to monitoring and maintenance. SolarCity currently serves 14 states and signs a new customer every five minutes. Visit the company online at www.solarcity.com and follow the company on Facebook & Twitter.

This release contains forward-looking statements including, but not limited to, statements regarding expected savings, expected electricity offsets and assumptions relating to the foregoing. Forward-looking statements should not be read as a guarantee of future performance or results, and will not necessarily be accurate indications of the times at, or by, which such performance or results will be achieved, if at all. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual performance or results to differ materially from those expressed in or suggested by the forward looking statements. You should read the section entitled “Risk Factors” in our annual report on Form 10-K, which has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which identifies certain of these and additional risks and uncertainties. We do not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.